Ranger Arizona
by Aly04
Summary: Brennan decides to take the next step in her internet romance after the mystery man asks her on date. Short but fluff, if I got the definition of fluff correct.
1. Painted Desert

With a single click, Dr. Temperance Brennan logged on to . A sigh of contentment passed over her lips as she opened her inbox. A smile lit up her face when she saw a message from him at the top of her inbox. For months she had been courting the mysterious stranger. Through the months, they hadn't exchanged much personal information. Sure they knew what movies they enjoyed, what songs were their favorites. But when it came down to names, jobs, phone numbers, details were sparse. She didn't mind it that way for some reason which was beyond her thinking capacity. She pushed that out of her brain and clicked on the message.

_Dear Arizona_

_I feel that we've finally reached that point in our relationship that we could meet. We've been talking for months now and the next logical step is dinner. I won't wait for your reply. You know I'm headstrong like that. Hope to see you tomorrow night, McGilligan's, 8pm. I'll be the one with the red carnation in his pocket._

_Yours truly  
Ranger_

She had to stop and catch her breath. She tried to voice something, to debate with herself what she should do, when Angela strolled into her office. With her ever present sketchpad in hand, she took one look at Temperance's face and knew something was up.

"So, I take it Ranger sent a message?" Angela asked.

"Yes he did and I'm rather shocked by its content," she said.

"You shocked? That's something new. What does it say?"

"He wants to meet. After all these months of mutual anonymity, he breaks the norm. He said he was headstrong but this is highly sporadic," she closed the window to her internet, writing down the restaurant name and time.

"Okay Brennan, drop the scientific mumbo jumbo. Fact is, he's ready to fully break the ice and start an official relationship with you. I think you should go to dinner and I shall pick your outfit," Angela smiled that teased Brennan. She felt like resisting, protesting that there was so much she didn't know about him, but nothing came to mind.

"As long as I don't seem like a hussy."

"Have I ever made you dress like a hussy?"

"There was that one time when-"

"Bones, I need you. We got a case to solve," Seeley's voice interrupted her own.

"I'll be right there Booth. Just go get the car. We'll talk about this more later Angela," she said and gathered up her files, hurrying after Booth.

"You're going!" yelled Angela after her. She raised up a hand in response and slipped out the door.


	2. In Cars

In the car, Booth was unusually silent. Even with his silence, Brennan could tell he was in an unusually good mood. The last thing she wanted to do was hamper on it by bringing up the date.

"So what were you and Angela going on about when I walked in?" he asked, turning onto a dirt road.

"Angela wants to take me shopping again, amp up my wardrobe," she said. Since it was a thinly veiled truth, she didn't expect Booth to read into that much.

"Oh, well she does have nice taste in clothes, I guess. I'm going to be busy tomorrow night by the way, I promised Parker I'd take him to some videogame launch party."

"That's fine. Angela and I can go shopping tomorrow night." The atmosphere became quiet again but Brennan knew this was a good thing. She wouldn't have to answer any questions that arose in Booth's head about any other plans for tomorrow night.


	3. Red Carnation

Brennan shifted in her seat. She arrived early, a half an hour early, to McGilligan's and was trying to wait patiently for her date to arrive. Ranger was the mysterious type, but the crowded noisy restaurant seemed to fit his profile. As much as she detested using psychology, she expected this type of food fare from him. Every time the door chimed, her eyes moved upward. It hadn't gone off in a while so when it finally chimed again, her head rose in eager expectation. All she could see was the top of the males head moving his way further into the restaurant. When his face finally came into view, her mouth dropped.

"Bones?" Booth said, pushing his way to her table.

"Booth. Unexpected seeing you here," she said.

"Same."

"I thought you had to take Parker to a video game thing?"

"That got over a little bit ago. I'm meeting someone for dinner."

"So am I."

"Well, then I'll leave you alone then. Say Bones, this isn't your usual type of place. Who're you meeting?"

"Just someone," she responded. He laughed and moved is hand to his shirt pocket.

"Well Bones, hope you have fun with that someone," he said and slipped something into his jacket pocket. When he drew back his hand, Brennan gasped in surprise.

"Ranger?


	4. Awkward is an Understatement

"This is awkward," Booth said, downing a shot.

"You're telling me," Brennan said, also downing a shot.

"What's with the screen name Arizona?"

"My nickname Tempe. Tempe is in Arizona. I understand your screen name. I don't know why I didn't put it together before."

"It could be because I had someone help me write some of the letters to you. Articulation doesn't always work with me."

"So what are we going to do? I mean, we've been living off this fantasy and now reality strikes. I'm not sure what to do," Brennan said, signaling the bartender for another round of shots.

"I don't know what we're going to do. We could play it by ear for tonight," Booth said. Brennan wondered what he meant by play it by ear. She looked across the table at him. He was smiling and he reached for her hand. He held it tight and stared into her eyes. The silence lingered for a moment, the whole place quieting around them as if someone turned the volume down on the patrons. She thought about the next logical step in their equation and didn't pull back when Booth gently placed his lips on hers. His free hand brushed her hair back, away from her face. She could feel the electricity sparking off his fingertips onto her skin. When the kiss broke, she drew in a deep breath.

"I think for tonight, I could handle playing by ear," she muttered. His hand still hadn't left hers, holding it tightly.

"Your place or mine?" Booth asked, his eyes never breaking from hers.

"Yours."


End file.
